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Nepal Casino Industry Suffers Under Own Laws

Posted on November 13th, 2010

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Not a lot of people know that there are casinos in the South Asian country of Nepal. What’s even more amazing is that the country actually hosts the area’s oldest casino industry. Moreover, this industry is one of the country’s top revenue earners. However, analysts and stakeholders fear that the country’s gambling industry is in jeopardy as they claim that its laws are prejudiced and outdated—most of which have adverse effects on the gambling industry. The first casino in Asia, Casino Nepal, opened its doors to the public in 1968. It was then owned by the younger brother of King Mahendra and was only to be enjoyed by foreigners. The kingdom was afraid that its citizens will lose all their money should they be admitted to the casino.

More than 40 years after Casino Nepal ushered the casino industry in the county, a number of drastic changes have affected the industry which, up until the turn of the century, was known to be more of a peaceful and sleepy nation. It has been transformed into a secular republic with a federal government. Despite the changes, though, casinos in the country are still off-limits to locals, pushing them to protest against this restriction. A Nepali or anyone caught gambling illegally in the country will be fined 200 Nepali rupees for the first offense, a short prison term for the second offense and for the third time, a prison term that would last a year.
Currently, there are eight casinos in the country’s capital, Kathmandu. It is actually referred to as South Asia’s gambling capital. This week, they were subject to frequent raids by the police to make sure that they are devoid of local gamblers. Out of the eight facilities, five of them were caught housing local gamblers. Thus, the police have to arrest the five officials of these casinos. Shalini Wadhwa, the director of Nepal Recreation Centre (NRC), which operates five or the eight casinos, could only say, “We are in the service industry. How can we keep Nepalis out when the police and fear of raids can’t? We wish the government would then post police at the casinos.”

The sixth casino, Casino Royale, is currently owned by Raj Bahadur Singh, a son-in-law of deposed king Gyanendra Shah. It was acquired by Singh from the NRC. Casino Royale has been the location of a number of well-publicized incidents such as one involving an Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao and the arrest of alleged serial killer Charles Sobhraj in 2003. Police superintendent Bhog Bahadur Thapa said that the manger of Casino Royale will also be served with a warrant. The two other casinos in the capital are run by Valley Links Pvt Ltd: Casino Venus, the newest casino in Kathmandu and Casino Rad. Valley Links also run Pokhara Grande, another facility located outside the capital. With another casino located in Pokhara, there are currently 10 casinos in the country.

The casino industry in the country has been threatened by a number of factors, including Maoist insurgency which lasted for 10 years and erased all signs of night life in Nepal. During those years, the internal struggle of the NRC was embroiled with a bitter struggle within their ranks, including the invasion of the new Casino Royale owner. Now, they are facing police action which they describe as damaging to their facilities. Wadhwa further said that casinos are not really under any current Nepalese laws. She explained, “Casinos don’t fall under the old gambling laws. Besides, they are discriminating, like Hitler’s regime that did not allow Jews to walk on the same side of the road as Germans.”

A Casino Rad senior official who wants to remain anonymous commented that the current gambling laws of the country are in opposition to the laws that are implemented in other countries. He said, “In India, one has to be above 18. In Malaysia, there is a restriction on Muslims on religious grounds as gambling is considered against Islam. In some countries, you have to be a tax-payer. But none puts a blanket ban on its own nationals, like Nepal.” The local police claimed that their actions are also due to the increase of violent and criminal incidents involving gamblers acquiring money illegally to pay off debts.